Adjustable seat post for bicycle

ABSTRACT

An adjustable seat post is composed of a seat post, a slide member, a locker assembly, and a clamp assembly. The seat post includes a tube and a guide base mounted to a top end of the tube. The slide member is linearly movably mounted on the guide base and includes a through hole running through a top side thereof and a bottom side thereof. The locker assembly includes a locking piece and a linking bar. The locking piece is rotatably mounted in the guide base. The linking bar has a first end movably connected with the locking piece, and a second end pivoted to the slide member and located in the through hole. The clamp assembly is mounted onto the slide member for holding a saddle. In this way, the slide member can be firmly mounted to the guide base.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a bicycle, and moreparticularly, to an adjustable seat post for a bicycle.

2. Description of the Related Art

As cycling has become one of popular leisure sports, the comfortablenessis more and more noted. Under different scenarios, a cyclist hasdifferent riding positions. For example, when a bicycle runs at highspeed or for a long distance, the cyclist mostly leans his or her uppertorso forward to reduce wind resistance and burden to the cyclist. Forthe cyclist's convenience and comfortableness in adjustment of ridingposition, a bicycle saddle capable of adjusting the anteroposteriorposition or angle of the saddle. A conventional bicycle post assembly iscomposed of a seat post, an adjustment set, and a clamp set. Theadjustment set includes a guide base mounted on the seat post, and aslide member mounted on the guide base. The slide member having twoguide bolts. inserted into a predetermined portion of the slide memberThe guide bolts extending into a guide portion of the guide base. Eachof the guide bolts has a distal end threaded with a locking memberslidable mounted in the guide portion. In this way, the slide member isdiametrically movable on the guide base. The clamp set is mounted on theslide member, diametrically movable along with the guide member, and canfinely hold a lower strut of the saddle. In light of the abovestructure, the anteroposterior of the saddle can be adjusted.

However, after used for a long time, the lockout between the slidemember and the guide base is inevitably subject to disengagement.Because the locking member is freely slidable in the guide portion, oncethe guide bolts disengage from the locking member as the cyclist ridesthe bicycle, the slide member can be seriously deviated with respect tothe guide base under the cyclist's weight and the force generated whilethe bicycle is accelerated. Under the circumstances, the structure atthis point is subject to damage to endanger the cyclist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide anadjustable seat post, which can improve the drawback of the prior artmentioned above.

The foregoing objective of the present invention is attained by theadjustable seat post composed of a seat post, a slide member, a lockerassembly, and a clamp assembly. The seat post includes a tube and aguide base mounted to a top end of the tube. The slide member islinearly movably mounted on the guide base and includes a through holerunning through a top side thereof and a bottom side thereof. The lockerassembly includes a locking piece and a linking bar. The locking pieceis rotatably mounted in the guide base. The linking bar has a first endmovably connected with the locking piece, and a second end pivoted tothe slide member and located in the through hole. The clamp assembly ismounted onto the slide member for holding a saddle. In this way, theslide member can be firmly mounted to the guide base.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a line 3-3 indicated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along a line 4-4 indicated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, illustrating that the saddle is linearly moved.

FIG. 6 is another schematic view of the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, illustrating that angle of the saddle is changed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, an adjustable seat post 10 for a bicycle inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention iscomposed of a seat post 20, a slide member 30, a locker assembly 40, aclamp assembly 50, two fasteners 60, and two washers 70. The detaileddescriptions and operations of these elements as well as theirinterrelationships are recited in the respective paragraphs as follows.

The seat post 20 includes a tube 21 and a guide base 22 mounted to a topend of the tube 21. The guide base 22 can be fixed to the top end of thetube 21 and has a first teeth portion 23 formed on a top side thereof, achamber 24 formed therein, and two through holes 25 located on twoopposite sides of the guide base 22 and communicating with the chamber24 and the outside. The first teeth portion 23 is formed of two rows ofserrations arranged at two respective sides of the top side of the guidebase 22 and partially covering a top of the chamber 24 to form anelongated opening.

The slide member 30 is linearly movably mounted on the guide base 22 andincludes a convex camber formed at a top side thereof, a concave camberformed on a bottom side thereof, a second teeth portion 31 extendingoutward from the bottom side thereof and engaging the first teethportion 23, two slots 32 running through the top and bottom sidesthereof and located at two sides of the second teeth portion 31, athrough hole 33 running through the top and bottom sides thereof, and acavity 34 located on a top side of the second teeth portion 31 andcommunicating with the through hole 33.

The locker assembly 40 includes a locking piece 41 and a linking bar 42.The locking piece 41 is cylindrical and has two ends inserted into thetwo through holes 25 of the guide base 22 separately in such a way thatthe locking piece 41 is rotatably mounted to the chamber 24. The lockingpiece 41 has a through hole 43 formed at a center thereof. The linkingbar 42 having a first end 44 and a second end 45 and can be insertedinto the through hole 33 to be threaded with the through hole 43 at thefirst end 44, such that the linking bar 42 can be axially moved alongthe through hole 43. Besides, a semi-cylindrical limiting piece 46 isfurther sleeved onto the second end 45 of the linking bar 42 to limitthe second end 45 to the cavity 34. The locker assembly 40 can hold theslide member 30 onto the guide base 22.

The clamp assembly 50 is mounted to the slide member 30 and composed ofa lower shell 51 and an upper shell 52. The lower shell 51 includes twolower pass-through portions 53 recessed inward from two opposite sidesthereof and communicating with the two slots 32, and two lower ditches54 formed at two opposite top sides thereof, The upper shell 52 has twoupper pass-through portions 55 shaped as circular holes andcommunicating with the two lower pass-through portions 53 separately,and two upper ditches 56 formed on a bottom side of the upper shell 52and corresponding to the two lower ditches 54, such that the lower andupper ditches 54 and 56 can hold two positioning bars of a saddle.

The two fasteners 60 are two screw bolts and inserted through the slots32, the lower pass-through portions 53, and the upper pass-throughportions 55 in turn to fasten the clamp assembly 50 to a top side of theslide member 30.

The two washers 70 are sleeved onto the two fasteners 60 separately andeach include a serrated convex camber formed on a top side thereof andstopped against a bottom side of the slide member 30 for increasing thefrictional force between the washers 70 and the bottom side of the slidemember 30.

Referring to FIG. 5, when it is intended to adjust the anteroposteriorposition of the saddle, a user can screw off the linking bar 42 of thelocker assembly 40 in such a way that an adjustable space is formedbetween the slide member 30 and the guide base 22, and then the user canraise and move the slide member 30 as well as the clamp assembly 50 andthe saddle toward a predetermined position linearly. In the meantime,the linking bar 42 can be deviated for a predetermined angle on thelocking piece 41 acted as a pivot and meanwhile drive rotation of thelocking piece 41, and the limiting piece 46 can be rotated with respectto the cavity 34. When the slide member 30 reaches the predeterminedposition, the user can screw on the linking bar 42 to make the limitingpiece 46 be tightly engaged with the cavity 34 to firmly fasten theslide member 30 to the guide base 22.

Referring to FIG. 6, when it is intended to adjust the inclination angleof the saddle, the user can screw off the fasteners 60 to generate a gapbetween the clamp assembly 50 and the slide member 30 and then slide theclamp assembly 50 together with the saddle along the top side of theslide member 30 subject to an required angle; meanwhile, the fasteners60 are movable in the slots 32 separately. When the required angle isreached, the user can screw on the fasteners 60 to fasten the clampassembly 50 to the slide member 30.

As can be seen from the above, the seat post 10 is linearly movablymounted to the guide base 22 and the guide base 22 includes sufficientspace for the linear movement of the slide member 30 to allow moreadjustable anteroposterior movement for the saddle. Besides, the slidemember 30 and the guide member 22 engage with each other by theserrations thereof in such a way that the slide member 30 can be mountedto the guide base 22 more firmly.

It is to be noted that in light of the rotably locking piece 41 of thelocker assembly 40, the limiting piece 46 can still be tightly engagedwith the cavity 34, as the slide member 30 is variably located on theguide base 22, to enforce the firmness between the slide member 30 andthe guide base 22 for more service life of the seat post 10. Even if theslide member 30 and the guide base 22 disengage from each other becausethe seat post 10 is operated for a long time, the locker assembly 40 canstill prevent the structural damage resulting from the deviation of thesaddle in the process of the user's cycling to further enhance thesafety of the user riding the bicycle.

In addition, the present invention has the following interchangeablestructures. The number of the slot 32 of the slide member 30 can be oneor more. Correspondingly, so are the numbers of the lower and upperpass-through portions 53 and 55. Besides, the slide member 30 and theguide base 22 engage each other to allow the slide member 30 to belinearly moved on the guide base 22. Alternatively, the slide member 30and the guide base 22 can have channels formed thereon for functioningas the same.

Last but not the least, the present invention though has been describedwith respect to a specific preferred embodiment thereof, but it is in noway limited to the specifics of the illustrated structures but changesand modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

1. An adjustable seat post for a bicycle, comprising: a seat post havinga tube and a guide base mounted to a top end of the tube; a slide memberlinearly movably mounted on the guide base and having a through holerunning through a top side thereof and a bottom side thereof; a lockerassembly having a locking piece and a linking bar, the locking piecebeing rotatably mounted to the guide base, the linking bar having afirst end movably connected with the locking piece and a second endpivoted to the slide member and located in the through hole; and a clampassembly mounted on the slide member for holding a saddle.
 2. Theadjustable seat post as defined in claim 1, wherein the guide basecomprises a first teeth portion formed on a top side thereof, and theslide member comprises a second teeth portion formed on a bottom sidethereof and engaging the first teeth portion.
 3. The adjustable seatpost as defined in claim 2, wherein the second teeth portion comprises acavity formed on a top side thereof for engagement with a limiting piecesleeved onto the second end of the linking bar, the cavity communicatingwith the through hole of the slide member.
 4. The adjustable seat postas defined in claim 1, wherein the slide member further comprises atleast one slot running through the top and bottom sides thereof.
 5. Theadjustable seat post as defined in claim 4, wherein the clamp assemblyfurther comprises a lower shell and an upper shell, the lower shellhaving at least one lower pass-through portion in communication with theat least one slot, the upper shell having at least one upperpass-through in communication with the at least one lower pass-throughportion.
 6. The adjustable seat post as defined in claim 5, wherein thelower shell comprises two lower ditches formed on a top side thereof andlocated at two opposite sides thereof, and two upper ditches formed on abottom side thereof and corresponding to the two lower ditchesrespectively.
 7. The adjustable seat post as defined in claim 5 furthercomprising at least one fastener passing through the at least one slot,the lower pass-through portion, and the upper pass-through portion inturn to fasten the clamp assembly to the top side of the slide member.8. The adjustable seat post as defined in claim 7 further comprising atleast one washer sleeved onto the at least one fastener and stoppedagainst the bottom side of the slide member.
 9. The adjustable seat postas defined in claim 8, wherein the slide member comprises a concavecamber formed on a bottom side thereof and the washer comprises aserrated convex camber formed on a top side thereof and stopped againstthe bottom side of the slide member.
 10. The adjustable seat post asdefined in claim 1, wherein the locking piece is threaded with the firstend of the linking bar.
 11. The adjustable seat post as defined in claim10, wherein the locking piece comprises a through hole threaded with thefirst end of the linking bar.
 12. The adjustable seat post as defined inclaim 1, wherein the slide member comprises a convex camber formed onthe top side thereof for the clamp assembly to move with respect to theslide member for changing an inclination angle of the clamp assembly.13. The adjustable seat post as defined in claim 1, wherein the guidebase comprises a chamber and two through holes located at two oppositesides thereof respectively and communicating with the chamber and anoutside; the locking piece comprises two ends located in the two throughholes respectively.